As well as to significant roles for Hirano Aya, Yuuki Aoi, Hayami Saori, Namikawa Daisuke, and Fukuyama Jun.

Here are brief notes on a few shows of interest to me or to others. Following that are full descriptions of 38 shows scheduled to air this summer, including images and details of story, staff and cast, as well as links to preview trailers, online mangas, and AnimeSuki discussions.

Shiki – From a good horror novel, directed by veteran director Amino Tetsurou (Macross 7, Zeta Gundam), and starring voices like Ohkawa Tohru, Yuuki Aoi, and Tomatsu Haruka. noitaminA.Nurarihyon no Mago – Director Nishimura Junji (Simoun, true tears) gets a good shounen manga to work from and top seiyuu to work with, including Fukuyama Jun, Hirano Aya, Nakata Jouji, Toriumi Kousuke, and Horie Yui.Highschool of the Dead – The director of Death Note and the writer of Requiem for the Phantom do a zombie show starring Inoue Marina, Suwabe Junichi, Sawashiro Miyuki, and Miyano Mamoru.Kure-nai OVA – One more episode of the highly satisfying drama starring Sawashiro Miyuki and Yuuki Aoi. With a new look that is closer to the original novel illustrations.Amagami SS – The director/writer of Working! brings us a romantic drama reminiscent of KimiKiss, featuring the four-episode stories of six different heroines: Itou Shizuka, Satou Rina, Konno Hiromi, Yukana, Shintani Ryouko, and Nazuka Kaori.

Kyou, Koi wo Hajimemasu OVA – A straight shoujo romance of the good girl-bad boy variety, starring Itou Kanae and Namikawa Daisuke.Mirai Nikki OVA – An OVA based on the popular manga involving a killing game and cellphone diaries that tell the future.Mitsudomoe – Mix Kodomo no Jikan with Kyou no Go no Ni, ramp up the humor, the violence, and the ecchi aspects; give the project to the director and the writer of Minami-ke; and bring in seiyuus Takagaki Ayahi and Tomatsu Haruka.Black Lagoon: Roberta's Blood Trail OVA series– Toyoguchi Megumi and Namikawa Daisuke return for a third series of the dark and exotic thriller.Black Rock Shooter OVA – The long-awaited 50-minute OVA created by Yamamoto Yutaka’s Ordet studio around the violent moe of the GoodSmile Company’s best-selling figure "Black Rock Shooter."Hen Zemi OVA – A one-episode OVA based on a manga about a seminar in abnormal sexual psychology.

Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu -- Fukuyama Jun, Ono Daisuke, Takagaki Ayahi, Sawashiro Miyuki, and other top names in a fantasy adventure directed by the director of Koukaku no Regis and Sengoku Basara.Kuroshitsuji II – Sakurai Takahiro and Mizuki Nana take over as the new super butler and young master in the second season of this popular show.Ookami-san to Shichinin no Nakamatachi – Looks like another solid school comedy from J.C Staff, about a wolf of a girl (Itou Shizuka) who, along with her little red sidekick (Itou Kanae), works to solve the school’s problems.Seikimatsu Occult Gakuin – The Anime no Chikara series (Sora no Woto, Senkou no Night Raid) gives us what seems like an interesting tale of time travel and the occult, starring seiyuu like Hikasa Youko (Mio in K-On, Junko in Ichiban Ushiro no Dai Maou), Takagaki Ayahi, Hanazawa Kana, and Koyasu Takehito.Seitokai Yakuindomo – Hikasa Youko and Yahagi Sayuri in the animation of a somewhat raunchy 4-panel comic about a school with a 20-1 ratio of girls to boys.

Asobi ni Iku yo! – A cat-eared alien, a put-upon boy, a childhood friend….what more do you need? How about Hanazawa Kana, Itou Kanae, Tomatsu Haruka, and an OP by Sphere?Sekirei - Pure Engagement – Season two of the popular harem show featuring big-breasted women with super-powers. And starring Hayami Saori, Inoue Marina, Hanazawa Kana, and Endou Aya.Strike Witches II – Season two of the extraordinarily popular show featuring moe girls wearing (or not wearing) pantsu, who fight aerial battles against a dangerous enemy, and have yuri feelings for each other.

Aki-Sora: Yume no Naka OVA – A two-episode OVA following the well-made one-episode OVA about love between an older sister and a younger brother, featuring fanservice that teeters over the edge of hentai.Sono Hanabira ni Kuchuzuke wo Anata to Koibito Tsunagi OVA – The frankly erotic animation of the frankly erotic yuri visual novel and doujin. Made by the director of Strawberry Panic and the animator of both that and Ichigo Mashimaro.

Notes:
-- dates and times may change, and will be updated in my anime calendar, which should come out in a week`s time.
-- information from official sites, MoonPhase, AniDB, Anime News Network, Japanese Wikipedia, Who Subs What, et al.
-- generally, English titles link to the Anime News Network encyclopedia; Japanese titles link to official sites.
-- click images to enlarge.

moe fantasy drama
The third and final episode of an OVA based on the popular fantasy adventure game and anime series. All new staff and studio from the original TV series, and many fans were disappointed with the first two episodes. First-time director Katsura Kenichirou did character design on Comic Party Revolution and wrote some of DC Da Capo.

dark adventure
The same staff and cast return for a third Black Lagoon series: a five-episode OVA. Put-upon Japanese salary-man Rock (Namikawa Daisuke) continues to navigate the dangerous shoals of the moden-day pirate world inhabited by sadistic killer Revy (Toyoguchi Megumi). They return to the criminal chaos of the fictional pirate town of Roanapur, Thailand.

school comedy romance
Wolf (Ookami) by name and fierce by nature, Ookami Ryouko (Itou Shizuka) works with her partner, little red Akai Ringo (Itou Kanae), and the members of their club, to fix the school's problems.

Directed by Iwasaki Yoshiaki (Zero no Tsukaima, Sky Girls, Hayate2). Lead writer Itou Michiko is doing her first full show, having done scripts for Railgun and Letter Bee. Looks like another good J.C. Staff comedy.

shoujo butler comedy
The new series of Kuroshitsuji will feature a new super-butler and young master, with Sakurai Takahiro and Mizuki Nana taking the places of Ono Daisuke and Sakamoto Maaya.

The director is new, too, with episode director Ogura Hirofumi doing his first full show, in place of Shinohara Toshiya (Bantorra). New art director, as well, although the character designer is the same. Okada Mari (true tears, Vampire Knight) remains as lead writer.

romance, school life, seinen
Lonely high-school sophomore Tachibana Junichi resolves to spend the coming Christmas with a girl. Which girl will it be?

From a PS2 visual novel by Enterbrain. Directed and written by the director/writer of Working, Hiraike Yoshimasa. That show gives me hope that he will make the best of his material.

Stars top female seiyuus Itou Shizuka, Satou Rina, Nazuka Kaori, Shintani Ryouko, Yukana, Asumi Kana, et al., with up-and-coming young star Maeno Tomoaki (Doujo in Library Wars, Touya in White Album) as the lead. Each of six female seiyuu will get her own four-episode arc, and will sing that arc's ED.

From the same game studio as KimiKiss, with which the story seems to share something.

shounen magical adventure
"The Legend of the Legendary Heroes." Lyner Lute loses all desire to live, after his classmates at the royal school for magicians die in an attack by a neighboring country. New king Shion Astarl sends Lute out, accompanied by beautiful swordswoman Feris Eris, to find the relics of the legendary heroes.

comedy
"La Campanella della Benedizione." From an ero-game. A harem comedy featuring much comedy and a protagonist who is a bit older and more accomplished (as a swordsman) than the norm -- but totally unaware of how much the ladies like him.

ecchi kiddy comedy
The Marui triplets terrorize their teacher (Shimono Hiro) and all of class 6-3: sadistic Mitsuba (Takagaki Ayahi), boob-loving muscle-girl Futaba (Akesaka Satomi), gloomy and mysterious Hitoha (Tomatsu Haruka). Ayahi gets her second role as a precociously hilarious child, after Hiiragi in Hanamaru Kindergarten -- and her fifth role of the summer.

The manga is reminiscent of Kodomo no Jikan, but darker, funnier, even raunchier, and less psychologically serious. The cast is excellent. Director Oota Masahiko and writer Aoshima Takashi did Minami-ke.

4-koma school comedy
Animation of a funny, somewhat raunchy 4-panel comic about life in a high school that has only recently begun to admit boys and so has a student body of 524 girls and 28 boys.

If we're lucky, it will combine the strengths of Seitokai no Ichizon and Working. But director Kanazawa Hiromitsu did Princess Lover, and writer Nakamura Makoto did Telepathy Girl Ran -- so I have my doubts.

ecchi harem fighting fantasy
The same staff and cast bring us a second season of Sekirei, the popular ecchi harem fighting fantasy set in the year 2020.

A great cast featuring Hayami Saori, Inoue Marina, Hanazawa Kana, Endou Aya and others play sekirei, female creatures with extreme fighting powers who are taking part in a desperate city-wide game. Several sekirei are all bound to our hero, whose genes enable him to be their ashikabi, the male who can unconsciously release their immense powers.

A preview of episode one aired on 13 June, and gave us the same entertaining combination of fighting, mystery, light romance, and juvenile ecchi fanservice that won it so many fans two years ago.

occult comedy drama
The Voltstein Academy in Nagano is famous both for high academic standards and for occult phenomena. One day in 1999, the dean, who studies the occult, suddenly dies. His daughter, who hates the occult, visits the school. At the same time, a young man appears who is a time-traveler from 2012. As the two encounter various bizarre phenomena within the academy, the reason for his timeslip to 1999 becomes clear.

The third show in the "Anime no Chikara" series, succeeding Sora no Woto and Senkou no Night Raid.

Intriguing show. The story has some promise. The cast is interesting, including Hikasa Youko (Mio in K-On, Junko in Dai Maou), Takagaki Ayahi, Hanazawa Kana, and Koyasu Takehito. First-time series director Itou Tomohiko directed episodes of Death Note and was assistant director of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. Writer Minakami Seishi did Railgun and worked with Satoshi Kon on Paprika.

Part-time seiyuu and full-time idol and TV personality Nakagawa Shouko does the OP, and seiyuu/singer Takagaki Ayahi (of Sphere) gets her first solo ED under her own name.

supernatural adventure comedy romance
Rikuo (Fukuyama Jun) is a quarter demon and three-quarters human. He lives in a house full of demons (youkai) with his grandfather, the lord of a demon clan. He tries to act human, especially in front of his childhood friend (Hirano Aya), but when needed he can become a powerful demon himself -- for a quarter of each day.

kids comedy adventure
The third part in a Japanese spin-off series based on Disney's character Stitch.

In their new adventure Yuuna and Stitch move from their small island to the Okinawa main island where Yuuna is supposed to visit a school. A new cast of friends awaits them there as well as a new crisis approaching from space.

shounen sci-fi action
The sixth Digimon series will be directed by the director of Hikaru no Go and Saiyuki Reload, and written by the writer of the most recent Gegege no Kitaro series and Dragon Quest.

The hero is Taiki, a warmhearted seventh-grader, who crosses over into a Digimon world that resembles the chaotic Warring States period of medieval Japan.

The show will help sell new lines of toy capsules and phone straps. Big seiyuu names involved include Kishio Daisuke, Sakurai Takahiro, and Kuwashima Houko.

moe pantsu, a bit of yuri, and a bit of aerial war
The popularity of the first season has spawned a second. This time, according to the director, there will be a little less focus on the dark aspects of the show and more on the light.

The same director and character designer, but they will be working with AIC instead of Gonzo this time around. And the lead writer is now a committee.

From what the director says in an interview translated in the AnimeSuki forum, if you liked season one -- especially if you liked the yuri sweetness and the pantsu -- you will like season two.

Basically the same cast, except that Seto Saori takes over as Mio for the now-married Chiba Saeko.

horror mystery supernatural
noitaminA brings us a true horror anime set in an out-of-the way village where a strange family buys the abandoned mansion on the edge of town, and people start to die in an apparent epidemic, one of the symptoms of which is anemia. "Shiki" means "zombie" (literally, corpse-demon).

Directed by Amino Tetsurou (Macross7, Zeta Gundam), adapted by Sugihara Kenji (scripts for episodes of Pita Ten, sola, Minami-ke) from a best-selling novel by the author of Twelve Kingdoms.

In an interesting cast, Ookawa Tohru, Uchiyama Kouki, and multi-talented singer Gackt are balanced by Tomatsu Haruka as a young girl who desperately wants to leave for the city, and Yuuki Aoi as a quiet young lady in the new family who loves to read, but is only seen out at night....

ecchi romantic comedy with cat-eared alien
The title means "Let's go play!" A high-school freshman, his next-door childhood friend, and a big-busted alien with cat ears and tail who comes to Earth to gather information and have fun. From a novel series that has been turned into a manga.

Nice cast stars Hanazawa Kana, Itou Kanae, and Tomatsu Haruka, with young female seiyuu Tamura Mutsumi as the male lead. Also features Horie Yui, Inoue Kikuko, Nomizu Iori (Nymph in Sora no Otoshimono) and the other members of Sphere (Kotobuki Minako, Toyosaki Aki, Takagaki Ayahi), which does the OP.

The director is new in that job, but the writer did the two ef shows, as well as Natsu no Arashi and Baka to Test.

ESP shounen comedy
OVA sequel to the 52-episode series that ended last year.

Can The Children -- three super-ESPers working for the government -- be tamed from their wildness and turned into refined young ladies?

Staff has not yet been announced, but one would expect it to be same as for the series: director Kawaguchi Keiichirou (Nyan Koi, Yutori-chan) and writer Nishizono Satoru (Needless, Welcome to the NHK).

seinen ecchi
OVA episode will be released with the fourth volume of the manga about odd students in a university seminar on human sexuality. The title means "Abnormal (Psychology) Seminar." I'm looking forward to this.

Stars two seiyuu from The Wallfower, Mori Norihisa (Hiroshi) and Takaguchi Yukiko (Sunako), as well as Hanazawa Kana, Ishida Akira, and Shiraishi Minoru.

Directed by the director of Hidamari Sketch, adapted by the writer of Ayakashi and Kyou no Go no Ni.

stylish moe violence, school life
The first independent animation project by Yamamoto Yutaka's ordet studio.

But this is not directed by Yamakan himself, who passes the job to fellow-KyoAni refugee Yoshioka Shinobu, while retaining the title of "supervising editor," as Shinbou sometimes does.

Music by suddenly famous amateur ryo, who wrote the Bakemonogatari ED, and performed in it as part of supercell. Stars two outstanding voices: Hanazawa Kana and Sawashiro Miyuki (both of whom were also in Yamakan's Kannagi).

The OP came out last year, now we get a 50-minute OVA featuring the Black Rock Shooter, a dark, lithe, gun-toting girl who is already the subject of several figures.

To be streamed free June 25 to August 31. DVD will come out free with the September issue of Hobby Japan magazine, on July 24. It will come out shortly thereafter with Megami magazine and Monthly Animedia.

This show is produced by the owner of the figure company, GoodSmile, and is being distributed free as advertising for present and future figures and other goods.

ecchi, seinen, incest, trap
The one-episode OVA that was released with a volume of the manga last year was the most graphic incest anime I have ever seen. I thought it was fairly good, with the same strange passions and strong characterizations as the manga. Elder sister Aki seduces her beloved younger brother Sora. Sora's twin sister Nami and her friend Kana are kept in the dark, so far.

This new two-episode OVA will delve more deeply into the manga story. The staff is the same as the previous OVA, but a couple of cast members appear to have been downgraded from better-known to fairly unknown seiyuus -- unless we are now dealing with pseudonyms....

Director Takahashi Takeo did Spice and Wolf. The writer doing the adaptation is the famous Hanada Jukki, who adapted Rozen Maiden, sola, and Seitokai no Ichizon.

yuri erotica
From a well-known yuri ero-game. But the staff makes this seem not your ordinary hentai anime: the director of Strawberry Panic, Kamen no Maid Guy and Needless; the animator of Ichigo Mashimaro and Strawberry Panic. Cast not yet announced. Graphic trailer can be found from "start" link on website. Adult content.

magic moe comedy
Final episode of the four-episode OVA covering the Mahou Sekai story arc. Shinbou is back to direct, and mangaka Akamatsu Ken adapts his own manga. Also back from the previous OVA series is animator/character designer Jitsuhara Noboru.

High school outsider Amano Yukiteru notes down everything he sees in a cell phone diary. He imagines a power called Deus Ex Machina, the Lord of Time and Space. Deus causes his cellphone diary to record events that will happen in the near future.

Staff includes the director of Shuffle and the writer of the ef shows and Baka to Test).

fantasy adventure
Based on the Game Cube and Play Station game, Tales of Symphonia. Two worlds exist, each unaware of the existence of the other. In order for one world to flourish, the other has to perish. On the dying world, a Chosen one is sent on a journey to restore that world's mana by awakening the Spirits and becoming an angel. Colette Brunel, the Chosen of Sylvarant, sets out on her journey accompanied by her best friends Lloyd Irving and Genis Sage. As they travel further they meet more friends and even more enemies, and learn more and more about the truth behind World Regeneration. (ANN)

Mizuki Nana does the OP (see trailer) and she and and Konishi Katsuyuki head the cast, which also includes able voices such as Touma Yumi, Tachiki Fumihiko, Kuwashima Houko, and Ohtsuka Akio. Written by the writer of Manabi Straight. This show is apparently more popular outside Japan than at home.

harem fanservice hentai
A two-episode OVA of the moderately entertaining series from last summer, but at a much higher erotic level. Anime production by Hoods Entertainment, the makers of Seikon no Qwesar and AkiSora. Japanese title links to the game-maker, Ricotta.

Ep2 comes out 29 october. Thanks to Katapan for alerting me to the fact that this is not an OVA by the makers of the TV series. I wouldn't normally list hentai titles, but since it's based on a normal anime, and I at first included it by mistake, here is what info we have. I've seen pics from a magazine, and it is clearly hentai, with full (albeit blurred-out) anatomical details. The pics above are from the game-maker's website, and are the only ones I've seen that are not too hot to post.

harem romance fanservice
The fourth OVA, to go with three TV series. Few details available, but the director of the first OVA steps back in, along with a lead writer who has written several episodes of previous shows. Info and forum links for last OVA.

comedy drama
Award-winning manga was made into a movie in 2008. Little info yet available about the anime, which has been announced for "summer 2010." Various stories set in modern-day Osaka. Japanese title links to movie site.

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comments:

Excellent list as always :] I love to look forward to your seasonal posts to have a depthful understanding of what's to come.I thought that this season was really short, but you've opened my eyes to all these potentials OVAs! WOW SO MANY!!Looking most forward to Ookami, Highschool of the Dead and Shiki. But of course, am watching everything as usual (don't know if that'll kill me one of these days).BRS has been delayed heaps, I hope these delays help with the overall OVA rather than just hyping it up.

Ah, the Princess Lover OVA has very little in common with the TV series - this is a hentai OVA, made by the folks at Hoods Entertainment (Qwaser, Aki Sora). There's a very NSFW picture floating around featuring Sylvia...

Anyway, I'm immensely looking forward to Shiki. Great manga, fantastic voices, the staff may be the only worry - except Takanashi Yasuharu, of course.

I'm also starting to find Seikimatsu Occult Gakuin more and more intriguing. I'd hate to be disappointed in Anime no Chikara a third time, but the staff leaves me hopeful, and the TV CMs on the official website have been great at building up the anticipation - especially #11 showing Hikasa Youko and Mizushima Takahiro during a recording session, and #12 with Shoko-tan's song.

Plenty of other promising shows here and there, too. Denyuden, NuraMago, HOTD, just to name a few. This season has much more appeal to me than last spring did.

Oh, I see you're also interested in Sono Hanabira ni Kuchuzuke wo Anata to Koibito Tsunagi (god, I always have a really hard time remembering that title). The fact it's the first 100% yuri hentai OVA was enough to draw my attention; I was a little surprised by the staff involved... it's definitely more than an ordinary hentai OVA. I'm looking forward to it more than ever.

As for the regular shows, the one I'm looking forward to the most is Shiki, followed by Seitokai Yakuidomo. I'm worried about the staff for the latter though...

Hmm, that's the first time I hear of Hen Zemi. It sounds pretty interesting, and I see Hanazawa Kana is in it, so I'll watch it for sure.

@Katapan -- Ah, I see. Thanks for that. I guess I didn't look carefully enough at MoonPhase. I've corrected the Princess Lover entry, including a couple of info links and the only non-hentai pic from the new OVA I could find, lol.

@furei_kinoko (again) -- I hadn't really thought about this before, but thinking about it, I realize that all I really want is for people to read and get some benefit from what I write, so I actually am happy for anyone to reproduce anything I write here, with or without attribution. Thanks for giving me a chance to think about this aspect of things.

Hashihime

The "Hashihime" or "Bridge Princesses," are characters in the novel The Tale of Genji (Genji Monogatari 源氏物語）. They are daughters of a disgraced prince, living alone with him in a small house at Uji, outside Kyoto. They are important characters in the last ten chapters of the novel.

The Genji can be considered the first real novel in the history of the world. It was written around 1000 AD by a Japanese court lady known as Lady Murasaki, or Murasaki Shikibu.

I think contemporary Japanese literature, including anime and manga, continues to preserve aspects of the Genji, among them sensitive psychological observation, a general passion for romance, and romantic interest in young girls. The main hero of the thousand-page novel, Prince Genji, had a number of present and former girlfriends living in his palace, and basically abducted his principal wife Murasaki when she was ten, marrying her when she was around 15.

notes

-- all Japanese names are written in Japanese order: surname first, given name second-- I claim no copyright on anything in this blog, unless otherwise stated